To say I go through tires quickly is an understatement. I'm worse than NASCAR teams Hendrick or Petty. Maybe I ought to give those guys a call and see if they've got some extras laying around.

My "easily" accessible records only go back to 2011, so I don't have data from earlier than that, but since 2012, I have bought a new set of tires annually for one vehicle or another.

July 2012 - tires for my truck

August 2013 - tires for my car

January 2014 - tires for my horse trailer

July 2015 - tires for my car (again?!?!)

March 2016 - tires for my truck (again)

I had my truck's tires rotated in December when I had new brakes installed. At the time, the tires looked great. I drove Speedy to Expo in February and everything felt fine. In Early March, I took both horses to the vet and noticed a worrisome roughness on the way home. It was a sensation I felt the last time my tires needed to be replaced. I checked all eight tires (including the trailer's) and couldn't find anything that looked suspicious.

Since we're heading to Simi Valley this morning for a lesson, a trek of about 125 miles over California's busiest highway, I gave my tires another visual inspection yesterday morning. Thank goodness I did. The problem finally showed up - blown out sidewall.

This looks like trouble.

I keep my vehicles a long time which means I do a lot of regular maintenance and replacement of parts. The one thing that I can't prevent is weather damage. The sunny side of the trailer and truck have wheel covers to protect the tires, but when you drive less than 5,000 miles a year, weathering happens as the truck and trailer sit.

Plenty of tread left ...

I called my trusty tire guy and asked him to get some tires ready for me as I was headed his way. The truck rode so roughly that I drove the entire ten or so miles at no more than 30 miles an hour. It was only slightly embarrassing to wave drivers past me as my hazards flashed on and off and on again. I didn't care though as I've driven behind slower drivers who didn't have the decency to move over like I did.

New tread and no holes in the sidewalls.

Once my new tires were installed, I took advantage of Blue Truck's freedom and zipped into the corner gas station and drive through car wash. These things are not easy to do with a trailer following wherever we go.

Blue Truck loves a good shower.

I hooked Blue Truck back up to the trailer, "fixed" another little thing that's busted on my trailer (I have got to get that fixed sooner rather than later), and loaded some hay and tack. We're leaving fairly early today as long as the weather holds. Here's to solid tires with no blowouts!

That's interesting that you have to buy tires so often. I drive my truck less than 5000 a year too, but both truck's tires have held out under the tread gets low (the current truck's tires will need to be changed this year). I replaced all of the tires on my trailer two years ago- when not in use I make sure I cover them with RV tire covers. Maybe I should do the same for my truck! I know we live in different climates- maybe your hotter temps all year round contribute to new tires before the tread wears out?

Our extreme heat is the most likely culprit. We get about 40 days a year that are over a hundred degrees and a whole bunch more days that are in the 90s. It is also VERY dry here. I think the combination of year round heat and dry (we've been in a massive drought for the past four years, and even with el nino, we've only just barely hit our pre-drought average here in Kern County) just takes its toll.

Tires are so expensive. I had to replace my truck tires last year which was a definite ouch to the bank account.

Now that I think about it though, I still have the original tires on my horse trailer, and that's from 2002! I had my trailer serviced recently, but I'm not sure if they looked at the tires specifically, I need to check that!

That seems like a long time for tires but I had the worst luck with tires before the truck. I was constantly getting flats, blow outs, etc I hope my truck tires will have a nice long life! I need to measure my trailer tires to get covers for them.

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About the Writer & Rider

I am a lifetime rider. I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.​Welcome to my dressage journey.

About Speedy G

Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. We're currently schooling Third Level in preparation for the 2019 show season. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.

August 2018

About Izzy

Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are schooling the dressage basics. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.